For machines



(No Model.)

B. P. M. CHASE BELTING FOR MACHINERY. 7. No. 306,131. Patented Oct. 7,1884.

Fig-1'- WITNESSES; INVENTU 6416 000 0 v czw. 7

u. PETERS. Plmlolvlhngmplmr. Wnhinglm. D, c.

ing of vulcanized india-rubber, and in Fig. 3

RICHARD F. M. CHASE,

BELTING FOR rriceo ATENT on NEW YORK, N. Y.

MACHINERY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 306,131, dated October7, 1884.

' Application filed April 14, 1884. (No modeli) To all whom it mayconcern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD F. M. CHASE, of New York, in the State ofNew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Beltingfor Machinery, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has for its object the produc? tion of a belt, band, orrope of cotton or other suitable material, with avulcanized compound ofindia-rubber or other suitable substance, and is made in the followingmanner:

I take a knit tube, either knit of cotton or other suitable fibrousmaterial. This tube may be made in any well-known way. I prefer,however, to use the knit tubular fabric made on the machine described inLetters Patent to George Merrill, dated July 8, 187 3, numbered 140,635.I place insidethis tube, by any of the well-known methods ofaccomplishing it, india-rubber compound, for the purpose of causing thesides of the tube to adhere when pressed together. The tube is then tobe pressed together, so as to make it flat, by passing it between rolls,or by any other suit able method, so that a flat belt will be produced,consisting of two layers of fibrous material, with warps runninglengthwise, and a layer of india-rubber in the center. This belt may becoated on the outside with india-rubber.

I have shownin the drawings, in Figure 1, a section of belt made withoutcoatingthe out side; in Fig. 2, one made with an outside coatone withboth sides coated with vulcanized india-rubber.

a is the knit fabric, and b is the india-rubber applied thereto, asabove explained.

I am aware that an india-rubber and cotton belt has longbeen in use,made of a broad belt of woven fabric coated with india-rubber, the edgesof which are folded toward each other, so as to meet in the center, orlaid in plies the width of the belt. Various objections, however, existto the use of this belt, especially from the fact that the seam or placeof junction of the two edges is a source of weakness, and that there ismore or less stretch in a woven fabric. In my belt there is no seam,and, the fabric being comparatively inelastic, it cannot stretch, byreason of the warp running lengthwise, and, differently from wovengoods, the warp is perfectly straight; also, from its peculiarconstruction it has a uniform strain, thus giving a greater tensilestrength than is possible by any other method of knitting, weaving, orbraiding, and, further, it can be produced more rapidly andinexpensively. It has a still greater advantage, in that from theelasticity of the knitting-stitch there is no possibility of the outsidethreads cracking or breaking while running over the pulley, which is thecase with all other woven belting fabric now made. This is very obviousfrom the factthat when the belt is stretched tightly over the pulley thestrain is entirely on the outside threads. This, I am aware, is obviatedin some cotton belts by stitching, and if the stitching-thread be of.sufficient strength to overcome that difficulty it leaves .an unevensurface, and has not the grip or frictional property of the belt hereindescribed as my invention. Still further, all cotton belts not coatedare limited in their use, and cannot be used where the damp atmospherewill affect them, and are entirely useless for outdoor purposes 011account of the shrinkage being so great as in many cases to pulldowrn/i,

shafting. This is entirely obviated in my belt by having a rubbercompound or other suitable substance so rolled, forced, or pressed intothe interstices of the fabric that there is no possibility of anyshrinkage; also, I am aware that in English Letters Patent to Robert Wm.\Vaithnraun, dated December 16, 1853, numbered 2,936, to Jules Le Blane,dated July 8, 1868, numbered 2,167, and to Charles Isidore Toussaint,dated November 19, 187 3, numbered 3, 753, there is described a tubehaving indiarubber in the center and pressed into the form of a fiatbelt, although I believe such belts have never been used, and I believethem to be impracticable, even if they should be made multiple, for thereasons given above, and which are applicable to all woven belts.

My invention differs from those in the employment of a knit tube made ofcotton or other suitable fibrous material, and in the employment ofvulcanized rubber with which to unite the sides of the tube.

The impracticable character of such belts asthose described in theEnglish Letters Patent to which I have referred results from the fact ofcotton not being employed in the manufacture of the tube, together withavulcanized compound also, that all woven fabrics, if made of sufficientstrength and thickness, will gave way on the outside, as aboveexplained, and that in woven fabrics the warps are not straight, as isthe case with the knit fabrics above described, thus permitting thefabric to stretch.

I have described a belt made of cotton, although it is obvious that abelt of other materials may be made and be useful; but experiment hasshown that cotton is the best material for my use, and that somematerials-as linen, for example-would be unfit for my purpose from thefact that the heat necessary to be used in the process of vulcanizing orapplying the rubber would rot the fibers of the linen and make itcomparatively worthless.

I prefer to prepare my warps so twisted that it is not necessary, afterthe manufacture of the belt, to take out the stretch, thus avoiding thecracking and breaking of many of the binding-threads, which is more orless the case in all other ways of manufacturing. It is read ily seenthat this would allow a far greater elasticity and freedom to theknitting, making it absolutely impossible, whatever the stretch may be,to break the outside cover, or even to strain it. The durability of thebelt is therefore very much increased.

In some cases I find it an advantage to covermy warps with rubber orother vulcanized substance before or at the time of manufacturing theweb, more particularly when I do not use a partly or fully coveredoutside covering, as by that means I have the rubber or other compoundmore thoroughly distributed into and through the fabric.

In making very heavy belts or bands, or in case where I wish to giveadditional strength, I place in the tube an extra woven or knittedmaterial; and to give greater strength to the end of the belt for lacingor splicing, I place a wirecloth, and where a belt or band is requiredto be absolutely inelastic I insert wire warps, suitably covered andsuitably distributed into and through the fabric, either in forming theweb, when first made, by leaving out the cotton warps and having thewire in their places, or by placing them in the additional band.

WVhat I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. Belting for machinery made of a circular seamless knit tube or tubes,lined with a vulcanized-rubber compound or other vulcanized substancepressed or rolled together in. the form of a flat belt or band,substantially as described, and for the purpose specified.

2. Belting for machinery made of a circular seamless knit tube or tubes,with a woven center, lined with a vulcanized-rubber compound or othervulcanized substance pressed or rolled together in the form of a flatbelt or band, substantially as and for the purpose above described.

3. A belt or band composed of any suitable fiber knitted in circularform, having loops formed by a continuous thread, and having additionalwoven threads, in combination with rubber or other vulcanized substancepressed or rolled together in the form of a flat belt covered either onone side or forming a complete cover, or without covering, substantiallyas described.

4. A circular knitted fabric, in combination with a vulcanized-rubbercompound or other vulcanized substance distributed into and through it,and cementing the fabric together in the form of a flat belt,substantially as set forth.

5.- A belt, band, or rope made of'a circular fabrichaviu g thereinspecially-prepared warps coated with rubber or other similar substance,as above described, and for the purpose speci fied.

RICHARD F. M. CHASE.

WVi tnesses:

ANsoN M. LYMAN, Cums. II. DREW.

